Traffic registering mechanism



June 13, 1939. C, D CUTLER 2,161,896

TRAFFIC REGI STBRING MECHANI SM Filed NOV. l2, 1936 Patented June 13,1939 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE TRAFFIC REGISTERING MECHAN ISMApplication November 12, 1936, Serial No. 110,504

7 Claims.

This invention. pertains to counting or registering mechanism and isparticularly directed to an improved vehicle actuated switch for use inconnection with mechanism for registering the number of vehiclestraveling in either direction over a specied highway.

Certain types of trailic registering devices now in use employ a lightbeam which is focused on a, light sensitive cell. When the beam isinter- 10 rupted and a shadow is thrown on the cell, a` circuit iscompleted and a registering is made. These types of registeringmechanisms are objectlonable because shadows may be made by objectsother than those intended and also one object may pass in the shadow ofa second 0bject, making the device render a false indication. 'Iheseregisters are also required to be supplied with 110 or 220 Volt electriccurrent which eliminates their use'on rural roads or any other placewhere such a current supply is not available.

The primary object of the present invention resides in the provision ofan improved vehicle actuated switch which can be employed to control thecircuit of a registering device in such a manner as to overcome theabove noted objections.

Another object of the invention is the provivision of a treadle switchwhich may be arranged transversely of a highway to be actuated byvehicles passing thereover in order to complete a circuit'l for anelectrically energized registering mechanism.

A still further object rests in providing a traflic registeringmechanism with a control switch which may be applied to a highway andemployed to actuate the registering mechanism upon the passage ofvehicles over the highway, the switch being so constructed as to becapable of controlling a plurality of circuits so that the 40 directionof travel of the vehicles as well as the number will be made manifest.

It is also an object to form a switch with a pair of spaced stationarycontacts and a single movable contact, the latter being moved intoengagement with one of the former upon the passage of a vehiclethereover. The contacts are to be elongated and the movable one madeflexible so that the opposite ends may be simultaneously engaged byvehicles traveling in opposite directions, and moved into engagementwith the respective stationary contacts.

With these and other objects in View, the invention resides in the novelfeatures of construction, combination of elements and arrangement ofparts as particularly pointed out in the following description and theaccompanying drawing in which:

Fig. 1 is a perspective View of a section of a roadway to which a traiccounting device provided with a switch constructed in accordance withthe present invention has been applied;

Fig. 2 is a vertical sectional view through a housing in which islocated a pair of accumulative counters and the actuating mechanismtherefor; 10

Fig. 3 is a vertical transverse sectional view through the actuatingmechanism for one of the counters. the plane of the section. being shownby the line III- III of Fig. 2;

Fig. 4 is a vertical transverse sectional view l5 through the vehicleactuated switch on the plane indicated by the line IV-IV of Fig. l;

Fig. 5 is an enlarged sectional view of a portion of the switch means.

Referring more particularly to the drawing, 20 the numeral I indicates ahighway to which the registering mechanism 2 comprising the presentinvention is applied. Arranged transversely of the highway is a vehicleactuated switch 3 comprising an inverted T-shaped strip 4 which is 25formed of rubber. The top of the vertical portion 5 of the stripincludes the movable contact 5a of the switch. This contact is, in thisinstance, formed of an inverted V-shaped strip of woven wire fabricvulcanized in place on the rubber 30 strip when the latter is beingcured. The hori- Zontal anges 6 of the strip 4 are covered by metallicstrips 1 and the switch is secured in position on the roadway by nailsor spikes 8 passing through the strips l and the flanges 6. The 35switch is particularly illustrated in Fig. 4 and the dotted lines showthe switch in either of its circuit closing positions. It will readilybe seen that the vertical portion 5 of the strip may be iiexed in eitherdirection depending upon the direction of movement of the vehicleengaging the same. When the portion 5 is bent over sufliciently, thecontact 5a will engage with one of the strips 'l providing for currentilow through these elements. 5

Current conducting wires lead from the switch 3 to a housing 9 suitablysupported at the side of the roadway. Mounted on the rear wall of thehousing 8 adjacent the upper portion thereof is a pair of Veeder orother suitable accumulative 50 counting devices I 0, each of which isprovided with an operating shaft Il, to the outer end of which issecured an operating lever I2. Also carried by the rear wall of thehousing in vertical registration with the outer ends of the levers I2 55is a pair of solenoid members I3. The members I3 are of the usualconstruction and to include a eld winding lll in the center of which islocated a tubular sleeve i5. A bar-like core I6 is slidably positionedin the sleeve l5 with the lower end thereof in engagement with the lowerwall of the solenoid casing. The upper end of the core i6 is spaced fromthe lever l2 to permit the former to gain some momentum before engagingthe latter. This is essential in a device of this character because itprovides for quick operation of the counting mechanism.

To correctly register the passage of a vehicle moving at the rate of 60M. P. H. over the road switch, the counting mechanism would have to beactuated twice, once for the front wheels and once for the rear wheels.To do this, the operating lever as well as the movable core must returnto a normal position before each actuation which requires the device tobe capable of at least eighteen operations a. second. If the core I6 andthe lever i2 were connected by means of levers or other devices, suchspeed of operation would not be attainable.

The terminals of the windings i4 are connected with a pair of bindingposts ll provided on the casing of each of the solenoids. An electricbattery l is provided in the lower part of the housing 9 and a wire 2Bleading from one binding post of one solenoid to one binding post of thesecond solenoid is connected with one pole 2l of the battery. The otherpole 22 of the battery lil is connected by means of a conductor 23 withthe movable contact Eid of the road switch. The stationary contacts ofthe road switch are connected by means of a second and third conductor2d and 25 with the second binding posts Il of the solenoids, theconductor 2d connecting one contact 1 with one solenoid and theconductor 25 leading from the other Contact 'i to the other solenoid.

The device operates as follows: A vehicle passes over the road switch 3and in doing so, the wheels move the vertical flange of the rubber stripto a substantially horizontal position as shown by dotted lines in Fig.4 causing the contact 5a to engage one of the contact strips l. Currentwill then flow from the battery i9 over the conductor 23 to the contact5a, then to the strip 'l engaged by the contact 5d and over one of theconductors 24 or 25 to the iield of the respective solenoid and thenback to the battery by way of the wire 2U.

This passage of current through the solenoid iield causes the core tomove upwardly and in doing so, engage the end of the lever I2 of thecounter positioned above the solenoid. Continued movement of the coreresults in the movement of the lever to actuate the counter. Immediatelyupon the separation of the contacts 5a and l, current now stops and thecore i6 returns to its original position. This cycle of operation iscompleted twice for every vehicle which passes over the road switch. Thetotal reading of the counter is divided by two to give the actual numberof vehicles passing over the road.

In the event two vehicles traveling in opposite directions pass over theswitch at the same time, the vertical portion of the strip 4 issufciently flexible to permit one end portion to engage with one strip'I while the other end portion is in engagement with the other strip.

While I have shown and described my invention in its preferred form, itwill be understood that many minor changes may be made therein withoutdeparting from the spirit and scope of the invention as dened by thefollowing claims.

What is claimed is:

l. In a traffic registering mechanism, a vehicle actuated switchcomprising an inverted T- shaped rubber strip, spaced stationarymetallic strips carried by the base portion of said T- shaped strip, anda movable contact strip secured to the vertical portion of said T-shapedstrip adjacent the upper end thereof.

2. In traffic registering mechanism, a vehicle actuated switchcomprising an elongated resilient strip, a vertically extendingresilient web formed at the longitudinal center of said strip, ametallic contact element secured to said strip on either side of saidweb, and a similar contact element secured adjacent the upper end ofsaid web.

3. In trafc registering mechanism, a vehicle actuated switch comprisingan elongated strip, a resilient vertical web formed with said strip atits longitudinal center, said web being coextensive with said strip, ametallic contact element secured to the upper surface of said strip oneither side of said web, and a similar contact element secured adjacentthe upper end of said web- 4. In trailic registering mechanism, avehicle actuated switch comprising a substantially flat elongated rubberbody, a vertical web coextensive with said body and joined thereto atthe longitudinal center thereof, contact elements coextensive with saidbody and secured thereto on either side of said web, and a metallicfabric element extending around the upper free edge of said web andjoined therewith during the formation of said body.

5. A vehicle actuated switch comprising an elongated flexible body, apair of stationary elongated contacts carried by said body in spacedrelation to one another, and a exible contact carried by said bodybetween said spaced contacts, the opposite ends of said exible contactbeing capable of simultaneous movement into engagement with oppositestationary contacts.

6. A vehicle actuated switch comprising an elongated resilient strip, avertically extending resilient web formed at the longitudinal center ofsaid strip, a stationary metallic Contact element secured to said stripon either side of said web, and a movable contact element carried bysaid web in spaced relation to said stationary contacts.

7. A vehicle actuated switch comprising an elongated resilient strip, aresilient web formed with and extending from said strip at an anglethereto, a stationary elongated metallic contact element secured to saidstrip, and a movable contact element carried by said web in spacedrelation to said first contact, said contacts en- 65 gaglng one anotherupon movement of said web.

CURTIS D. CUTLER.

